


Who Knows

by Ralka



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Out With A Bang, death by sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 08:35:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17895125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ralka/pseuds/Ralka
Summary: Originally written for Kmeme (but never posted). The prompt was something like: "Shepard finds Morinth irresistible and willingly embraces what she does."Well, I do not have to warn you (but I will anyway) that it does not end well for Shepard...Story of commander's fateful encounter with Morinth and what happens afterwards.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was cleaning my drive and I found this story I wrote few years ago but then never posted. I polished it up a little and here it is! Please note the tags and warnings. Enjoy and please let me know what you think! :)

“ _I am really doing this…_ ” I think as I walk with the asari ardat-yakshi towards her apartment. The moment she approached me in that club, I knew that I was not going to follow Samara’s plan. I could never hurt a perfect creature like _her_.

Morinth and I look at each other as we walk, our arms intertwined. The asari smiles at me even as I eagerly follow her to what I know will be my doom.

As soon as Samara told me about her daughter, I knew that I wanted to experience what Morinth offered. Briefly, I had some doubts after speaking with Nef’s mother and learning about Morinth’s murder of her innocent teenaged daughter…

I was not a monster. I felt sympathy for the girl’s mother and regret that her young life ended so early. On the way to the VIP section of that club, I wondered whether I shouldn’t help Samara after all. Just follow her plan, let her deal with her murdering offspring, and avenge Nef’s murder.

But then I finally met Morinth face-to-face for the first time and I knew that there would be no revenge for Nef’s death. Not from Samara and certainly not from me.

“ _… her eyes promise you things you were always scared to ask of another…_ ”

Samara’s words echoed in my mind. They were true. There was just something about Morinth. As strange as it sounded, I suspected that by the time it happened, Nef was happy to die by Morinth’s hand… or so I believed. I supposed that I was going to find out soon enough.

The chance to advance my ultimate plan finally came when we walked past a dark, deserted alley. I casually pulled Morinth into it, slamming us into the wall.

“Easy there,” she laughs, mistaking my move for eagerness. “Let’s get to my place first,” she says with husky voice, trailing small kisses along my collar bone.

I wanted to do as she asked. But first I had to make sure that we would not be disturbed…

“Morinth,” I say in serious voice. “I know what you are…” I say and then whisper the final words. _“… ardat-yakshi.”_

Like a wind, the asari extricates herself from my arms and activates her biotics, no doubt getting ready to kill me.

“Don’t! I am unarmed!” I cry at her, putting my hands up. “I don’t want to harm you! I just want to talk!”

Morinth pauses but her biotics still glow brilliantly around her body. “Who are you, really? What do you want with me?!”

I sigh. “My name is Jane Shepard… I am the first-“

“- human spectre,” Morinth finishes my sentence as a dawn of recognition appears on her face. “I should have recognized you… you look different now,” she says, not letting go of her biotics as she looks at me with curiosity.

“It is a long story,” I say, keeping my hands up.

“I can’t believe they’d sent a council spectre after me,” Morinth says. “Have I become such a threat that even Citadel Council notices?” she wonders.

I smile weakly and pray that Morinth does not take what I am about to say the wrong way. “The Council did not send me… a justicar named Samara employed my assistance… your mother.”

With a short biotic charge, Morinth is upon me at once. She presses me to the wall and places her right hand in front of my face, biotic energy crackling in her palm. All she needs to do is to thrust her hand forward and I’ll die…

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now!”

I do not move to defend myself as I give her my answer. “Because I am not going to help her! I- I want you to meld with me…”

There. I said it and there is no turning back. From this point on, my future path is set.

Morinth is understandably shocked by my words and she moves her hand back a little. “Excuse me? You want to… meld with me?” she repeats in disbelief.

I blink and begin to explain my thoughts to her. “Yes… I know what you do to your victims… and I want to experience it,” I admit to her and perhaps to myself as well. “I surrender myself to you… do with me as you please, Morinth,” I finish, experiencing a liberating feeling as I throw myself at the ardat-yakshi’s mercy.

For a moment, she studies me carefully before I see her eyes turning black. My heart starts to pound and I feel a pressure against my skull.

“ _This is it..._ ” I think. “ _She is going to meld my brain._ ”

But then it is over and I am looking at her cobalt-blue eyes again. She deactivates her biotics and smiles at me. “I believe you… and I accept your surrender,” she says and takes my hand. A thrill goes through me at the contact. “Come with me… tell me everything,” Morinth instructs as she pulls me forward. I willingly follow her through the streets even while informing her about every aspect of Samara’s plan.

 

* * *

 

“Make yourself comfortable…” Morinth says after we reached her place, gesturing towards the sofa area.

“Ok,” I say and go to sit down. Meanwhile, I can hear Morinth locking the front door behind us. I get goose bumps as I realize that I am now literally trapped in the same room with her.

And I am completely helpless! Samara did not let me bring any weapons and Morinth took away my omni-tool after I told her everything about the Justicar’s plan. Or more accurately, she told me to give it to her and I immediately obeyed, surrendering my only defense against Morinth’s biotics.

The asari finishes locking the door and turns to look at me from across the room. It is a look of a predator studying her cornered prey and I gulp down, realizing that there is no escape for me now.

“I was hoping we could talk before we, uh… begin,” I tell her lamely, my eyes glued to the exquisite blue woman as she approaches.

“Ahh… are you trying to stall for time?” Morinth says and smiles while sauntering towards me. “… hoping that someone will dome and rescue you?”

“No! I just-“ I began but she cuts me off with a giggle.

“I was only joking… I’d love for us to talk. Let me get us some drinks,” she says and moves to a cupboard further away, pulling a bottle and two glasses from it. I intently watch Morinth’s perfect leather clad ass as she reaches into the cupboard, the sway of her hips as she walks…

Normally, I do not lack control like this but everything about this woman is screaming seduction to me. Her every movement seems designed to enthrall and capture attention. Her very existence demanding my love and worship. She briefly glances back at me and smiles with satisfaction when she sees my eyes following her every move.

She then comes over, pouring us the drinks before sitting on the couch right next to me.

“Cheers,” I say as we pick up the glasses and click them. I drown down the liquid and look into Morinth’s eyes. I wonder how many men and women lost themselves in those eyes. How many of them screamed in both pain and pleasure as Morinth ended their lives. Did she have to hunt and seduce all of them or did some of them surrender willingly like I am now? The ardat-yakshi is still studying me carefully even as she drains her own glass.

“I was worried that you were just going to snap my neck in that alley…” I finally gather the courage to speak about our altercation outside. In hindsight, maybe I could have handled that situation better.

“I was planning to,” Morinth admits. “But then I could tell that you were speaking the truth… _you really want this_ ,” she purrs at me, her voice filled with unlikely mix of mocking and admiration.

I simply nod. I could not resist what this woman offered and it must have been clear on my face ever since I first told her. Still, I wondered… “Have you read my mind back there?” I ask, remembering her eyes going black in the alley.

I recall Samara warning me about that. She said that should Morinth’s eyes go black it would mean she was using her mental powers on me and I would have to resist her with all my will… but of course, that was not going to happen. Ever since I first heard of her, I had a feeling that I would not be resisting Morinth at all. And when I finally met her in that club, I knew for certain.

“In a way…” Morinth answers, casually admitting to having read my mind. “It’s more a sensing than reading,” she explains. “But I could also tell from past experience.”

I raise my eyebrow at that. “You mean you had other people willingly wanting to meld with you before?” I ask with surprise. It seemed that I was not that special after all. It wounded my pride a little but it was not going to change my mind. Not that I even had that option. I gave up control over my fate the moment I revealed Samara’s plan to Morinth.

“Yes… there were some lovers who would willingly embrace me… even knowing what would happen to them,” Morinth confirms, her eyes briefly distant with memories. Then she blinks it away, puts down her glass and scoots closer until our bodies touch. “Of course, none of them were council spectres…” Morinth muses as her hand touches and caresses my arm. “So what is **_your_** story, commander Shepard?” she asks. “Why is the most famous human in the galaxy surrendering to an ardat-yakshi?”

I sigh even as I feel her touch. I love it when she touches me. “You heard that my ship was destroyed two years ago…” I begin to answer her question.

“I did… and they said you were killed. Obviously they were wrong… lucky for me,” Morinth smiles even while continuing to stroke my body.

“They were not wrong, Morinth… for all intents and purposes I really died,” I say. Morinth stops moving her hand and listens to my next words in shock. “I was brought back from dead by a very complicated and morally questionable scientific experiment,” I explain.

“You died… and were brought back?” she repeats.

“Yes… and to be honest… I often wish I wasn’t,” I admit to her something I did not tell everyone since my resurrection. All this time it felt wrong for me to be alive. Like part of me stayed dead, floating around Alchera… I was hoping Morinth would understand and it seems that she does as she gives me a solemn nod after I am done talking.

“I understand. You are tired of life and you feel like you do not belong here anymore…” Morinth’s words mirror my thoughts. Her hand goes behind my head and she pulls me into a kiss. I feel like she lays a claim to my soul with the gesture and I melt into the kiss.

“It will be my pleasure to release you from this life, Shepard…” she breathlessly whispers to me when we stop kissing. “Still, there are other options. It does not explain why you want to meld with me?” she asks with honest curiosity.

I smile as we move on to the less depressing topic. “Because of what Samara said about you…” I tell her. She pulls back to stare at me in disbelief before she starts to laugh. “Anything my mother would say about me would make most people want to be on different planet… much less make them want to meld with me.”

I smile at her and put my hand on her leather clad thigh. “Most people aren’t me…” I whisper seductively as I stroke her leg. Morinth responds by cupping my cheek with her hand. “So what did she say about me? Tell me…”

“She said that your body brings your victims an unimaginable ecstasy…” I repeat Samara’s earlier words. “That your eyes promise things that I was always scared to ask of another…”

“Mmm, I fully deliver on those promises, you know…” Morinth purrs and leans over me.

“I know,” I reply and press my lips to hers again. My hands roam her body as we make out. The commando leather perfectly hugs her body like a second skin, almost making up for not being able to touch her directly. Although when I feel her hands sliding under my dress, I am glad I decided to wear the little thing that Kasumi got me for the heist on Bekenstein…

“Anything… anything else she said?” Morinth pants when we break apart.

“Yes,” I reply. “She also said that you twist your victim’s feeling, overpower their mind… turn them into mindless shells.”

“I see…” Morinth reacts, this time less enthusiastic about her mother’s words.

“She also said you will be planning to inflict horrors on me… and that if I am not careful, I will want you to.”

I then kiss and nimble on the skin folds of Morinth’s neck as the asari purrs with pleasure. “It seems that I have been very very careless,” I gasp between the kisses. “Because I want you to inflict horrors on me, Morinth… I want you to overpower my mind… I want my soul to be grinded into dust beneath your heel… to become an empty shell by your hand” I tell her my darkest fantasy. I pause, looking into her eyes. “The question is… do you want to do these things to me, Morinth?”

The asari seems stunned by my speech but she quickly recovers. “It would be truly my pleasure to end you, Shepard…” she says as her hand goes into my hair and she plays with my blonde locks.

“When I meld, I bring utter ecstasy to my partners, but… should I choose to, I could also use my powers to utterly ruin you… break your mind. You would beg for mercy a thousand times before I would finally grant you your end…” Morinth says and looks up at me. “But why? I said that I had willing victims before but they were all rather curious about the pleasurable applications of my gift.”

“Thing is… this has always been my greatest sexual fantasy,” I pause as I let the words sink in.

Morinth grins as she finally understands. “You mean dying during sex?” she asks and I nod.

“Yes… do you know what a succubus is?” I ask her and watch her nod. “I am… familiar with the human myth,” Morinth said. “A demon who steals a soul from her partner during sex…there is actually a similar myth in other cultures, you know.”

“You have to admit that it sounds similar to your condition…”

“So is that how you see me?” the ardat-yakshi wonders. “A demon coming to steal your soul?”

I shake my head. “You are not stealing… I am giving it to you… willingly,” I correct her. Morinth smiles. “Of course… my mistake,” she says. She leans over and we share another kiss. This time, I grab her ass as we make out.

“I am not a moron, Morinth,” I say afterwards. “I know that you are an asari with a genetic condition... but the way Samara described you… I just knew I had to experience what you do to your victims…” I try to explain, to make her understand my reasons. “I am not asking you to do the horrible things to me… but the idea that you **_can_** do them to me and that there is nothing I can do to stop you if you do… and that I am surrendering myself to it willingly…” I say as I shiver with arousal at the idea.

“I think I understand,” Morinth says with triumphant smile. “You want a complete surrender… to be utterly at my mercy,” she says and I nod as my darkest fantasy is vocalized by the woman who is soon going to make it a reality.

I pour us more drinks and take a sip, gathering courage for my next question before I finally ask her. “So what really happens when someone melds with you?” I say, wanting to know what she would tell me. “Is it really an unimaginable ecstasy for your victim? Please… tell me the truth,” I plead with her.

“Imagine every nerve in your body pulsing with pleasure… there is no greater pleasure in the universe than melding with me” Morinth says and sighs, remembering her past lovers. “Our minds are connected in perfect bliss… at least for a time,” she says with a hint of sadness.

“What happens after?” I ask with dread but eagerness. “Please tell me… I am not going to run no matter what you say, I promise,” I say and give her a teasing peck on her lips.

Morinth laughs at my words even as she cups and squeezes my left breast with her hand. “You cannot run, Shepard…” she smirks as my breath quickens. “You were tempting fate when you met me in that club… but you sealed it when you surrendered to me. You cannot escape me, Shepard… not anymore,” Morinth says and I eagerly nod at her words. It is exactly what I wanted to happen.

“As for my partners, the ecstasy is so great it eventually becomes too much for them. Their minds are overwhelmed and they experience pain at the end,” Morinth admits. “But I can somewhat influence how much… spare them the worst if I want to,” she explains.

“And how often do you want to?” I wonder.

“Depends on who they are. If they are sweet and innocent people, I usually have mercy on them. If they are not… I can let them feel everything that is happening.”

“Am _I_ sweet and innocent?” I ask her teasingly.

Morinth smirks. “What do you think, _commander Shepard_?”

I shiver in her arms. “What if I change my mind about this?” I ask, glancing briefly at the locked door. I am not going to try and leave but I cannot help but rile Morinth up. It’s like a play between cat and a mouse, only it is the mouse having the fun.

Morinth sees through my efforts but she plays along nonetheless. She touches my cheek and turns my head so I look into her eyes. “You are not leaving this room without melding with me… I think we both know that,” she says and I watch as her eyes briefly flash black. I feel a brash of her mind against me. A promise of things to come. She is right, of course. I need to experience what Morinth offers. No matter the consequences.

“My body is full of cybernetics, you know…” I quip. “Who knows… perhaps I will be the first one to survive you, Morinth,” I tell to the gorgeous ardat-yakshi.

The asari looks at me with a little disappointment. “Is that why you are doing this?” she asks. “Because you think that you can survive me?” she snorts haughtily. “So many have believed that in the past… so foolish… so arrogant. I humbled them all in the end.”

“Not at all…” I assure her. “I know… I am hoping that you will be the end of me… with all I have seen in my life, melding with you sounds like a sweet way to go…” I say and Morinth believes me.

“I don’t think that I‘ve ever met anyone like you, Shepard. A first human spectre… you would have been the most powerful person that I ever conquered. But you did even more than that, didn’t you? You surrendered to me! I am going to cherish your sacrifice forever,” Morinth says, her eyes smoldering with seduction as she presses her body against me.

I am so aroused by her words that I almost give in and throw myself at her right there and then. But there is one more thing I want to know. “Do- do your victims mean anything to you?” I stammer the question that I have pondered ever since I learned of Nef’s murder. “Anything at all?”

“You are all special to me,” Morinth insists, sounding almost offended.

I feel another overwhelming pang of arousal as I realize that she already counts me among her victims. And she is not wrong. Most people would think me crazy but after everything I’ve done, after all the close calls over the years, finding my end in the arms of this gorgeous creature sounds like bliss. Morinth would be my last battle and I don’t care if I win or lose to her. Just being in the battle is what matters.

“But what about poor Nef?” I ask, undeterred. “She was so young, innocent… and you killed her,” I speak. Given what we are about to do, I needed to be completely opened with Morinth. There would be no other time for me to admit these feelings to anyone. “I have to confess… when I heard what you did to her… I almost went along with Samara’s plan.”

The ardar-yakshi sighs. “I make no apologies for what I do, Shepard. People I meld with… they are mine to take. They give me what I want and I give them what they want… even if they don’t realize it until the end,” Morinth says. “And as for Nef, I believe I have saved her from a worse fate.”

I raise my eyebrow at her. “You killed her… to protect her?”

“She was a rebellious teen living on Omega, hanging around everywhere she wasn’t supposed to!” Morinth explains. “What do you think was going to happen to her if I haven’t showed up?”

“You don’t know that…”

“But I do!” Morinth insisted. “In fact, a local slave gang was already planning to snatch her up when I first saw her….”

“Really?” I ask in surprise. “Is that why you chose her?”

My questions have rattled Morinth up and I almost regret asking them but fortunately, the asari calms down and smiles as she answers me. “Of course not,” she says wistfully. “ I chose her for the same reason I choose any of you,” she looks at me, licking her lips as I gulp down. “Nef had the spark.”

“Spark?”

“Potential for greatness… personal destiny…” Morinth explains and I nod as I finally start to understand this woman’s motivations.

“She could have achieved great things in life… and you took that from her,” I sum up.

“Exactly,” Morinth smiles. “Nef could have been a great artist, her spirit and her dreams enriching the universe… but now I am the only one who got to behold all that,” Morinth says dreamily. “To take everything from your partner… to reduce their lives down to your own pleasure… the feeling is…” she says and shudders. “Well, you will know soon enough exactly what I mean.”

Morinth stands up from her seat and then sits down on my lap. I immediately hug her with my hands, enjoying the curves of her body. “But enough talking… enough questions, commander… take off that dress. We will begin… now!” she orders and my heart beats so fast it feels like jumping out.

 

* * *

 

“This is it,” Samara thought as she stood in front of the apartment where she followed Shepard and her daughter. It was time to storm Morinth’s den and finally end her killing spree once and for all!

The asari justicar takes a few deep breaths. Then she charges up her biotics and she enters the apartment ready for a fight. Once inside, she immediately glances in direction of the obvious places where she would expect Morinth and the Commander to be – living room area or the bed.

It takes her few seconds to realize that they are not at either of those places and that the apartment is deathly silent… several more minutes of frantic searching confirms that they are not in the apartment at all.

 

* * *

 

“MOOORINTH!” I scream her name as my body is seized by another orgasm. Earlier, as soon as we disposed of our clothing, she led me to her bed, and… it was one pleasurable blur after that. She pushed me down with her biotics and then she buried her face between my legs… doing things to me that I did not think were possible.

The asari finally emerges with her face covered with my juices and a big smirk on her face. “Glad I could be of service,” she purrs as she crawls forward on the bed to join me in a kiss and we embrace in passion, our breasts pressing together as we both hold on tightly.

“Please… want to pleasure you too…” I moan as I push my thigh between her legs.

Morinth smiles sadly at my gesture. “I am asari… we can get that pleasure in only one way.”

My eyes widen but then I nod resolutely. “Then do it now! I want you, Morinth… meld with me!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, more than anything!”

The asari smirks with triumph as she straddles my body, obliging my wishes.

I could not believe it was finally happening. She was going to meld with me any second! I maintain an eye contact with her, eagerly awaiting her eyes to turn black. “Morinth, I-“ I gasp, completely overwhelmed by the situation and my voice betrays me.

“I can make it quick, you know…” Morinth says, interpreting my silence as hesitation. “You will barely feel any pain,” she promises.

“No!” I say resolutely, surprising her. “I want you to drive it out as long as you can… you will get more pleasure that way, right?”

“I will… but you might get more pain… perhaps much more…” the asari warns me.

“I don’t care… I want you to get as much pleasure out of me as you possibly can… no matter how much it hurts me. I am yours… just use me… please!” I insist.

“You would really do this for me?” Morinth asks in astonishment, touched by the depth of my submission to her.

I smile. “This is a fantasy of mine, remember?” I remind her. “Your pleasure is only thing that matters! Even if you feel me in horrible pain, I want you to keep going as slow as you can… even if I am screaming in agony and begging you for mercy… show me none,” I finish my last wish.

She is silent as she absorbs my words before she finally speaks. “I won’t show you any mercy… I promise.”

I close my eyes and nod. “Thank you…” I whisper.

She then silently asks me for the final permission and I eagerly nod my head.

“Embrace eternity…” she whispers and I watch her eyes turn pitch black. Suddenly, there is a pressure in my skull which I recognize as a beginning of asari meld. Morinth looks like a biotic goddess as she straddles me, her body surrounded with whisps of blue energy.

_“… relax… let me in,”_ I hear Morinth’s voice in my head and I do as my goddess commands. In that instant, I am overwhelmed by the greatest euphoria I have ever felt. I see a large nimbus of biotic energy enveloping us both and I feel Morinth completely taking control of my entire being. And it feels so good to let her do it. Every touch of her mind feels like a liquid heaven that I can bath in. I never want it to end…

But sadly, it does.

I feel like suddenly awaking from a very pleasant dream and everything is cold and dark. Pain is pulsing in my body and my heart beats like crazy. Instinctively, I try to fight the alien presence in my mind that I know is causing this discomfort – Morinth. I am surprised when I am able to start pushing her out of my mind and the pain reseeds. It seems that I am indeed mentally strong.

“ _No… don’t fight me… yield,_ ” Morinth’s voice commands me.

I pause at that. I look up at Morinth, her eyes pitch black, her mouth opened in silent moan of pleasure, biotic energy still swirling between us…

“ _…give in…_ ”

She repeats her request and force myself to obey her. I consciously focus on suppressing my instinctual resistance and she immediately returns into my mind in force… as does the pain.

_“I am yours… take me… use me!”_ I bow before the mental presence invading every part of my spirit. I can feel Morinth’s joy at how eagerly I help her to take control of my entire existence.

The pain is soon forgotten as new heavenly feeling envelops me…

And so it continues for how long I cannot tell. Cycles of pleasure and pain. Me consciously stopping myself from resisting and Morinth rewarding my obedience with more pleasure.

Each time Morinth penetrates my mind, it becomes a little easier to pull her in… more natural. Both my pleasure and pain are also increasing, the contrast driving me mad. Eventually I reach a point where I do not have to focus on _not resisting_ at all and the feelings Morinth gives me are truly the only thing left on my mind. It goes on until I feel a particularly powerful jolt of pleasure that feels greater than any before and leaves my spirit quaking with joy.

But then it is over all too soon and I am suddenly overcome by a most horrible agony that spreads through my entire being – body, mind, and soul. My old instincts roar up again and I try to resist it… only to find out that I cannot!

“ _There…it’s over now, Shepard_ …” Morinth’s voice reaches my mind and it is louder than even my own thoughts.

From her words, I realize that this is an end for me… I could have resisted Morinth before but I willingly let her slowly whittle down my spirit and now I was too weak to fight back. Morinth smiles at me imperiously as she senses my thoughts and sees that I am now truly and utterly _hers_.

“ _This is really happening… I surrendered to her… I really did it!_ ” I have my last happy thought before my entire world turns into an unbearable agony. I would have spasmed uncontrollably had Morinth not pinned me down with her body and hands.

With the biotic energy still surging between us, I scream as I feel Morinth literally deconstructing my mind… my soul if you will. The agony of spiritually seizing to be is unbearable and I start pleading and begging for mercy.

“ _I could stop now…_ ” I hear her say over our mental connection. “ _… but I will not. I promised you no mercy and I will give you none. I will use you as much as I can and then throw you away. You will stop to exist and I will become stronger._ ”

And she doesn’t lie… the melding continues until all my senses disappear… until I no longer know who I am… all the while the agony burns through whatever remains of my soul… for all eternity.

“ _This is it, Shepard_ …” Morinth speaks and chuckles while I linger at the very edge of oblivion. “ _This is the end you wanted… I hope it was worth it._ ”

The mangled remnants of my spirit cower before my triumphant conqueror. I no longer understand her words or anything. The only thought I have left is how she is everything and I am nothing. I mentally bow before Morinth for the last time as the final part of me is consumed by the ardat-yakshi.

 

* * *

 

Samara does not understand how this could be happening. She followed Shepard and Morinth into this apartment. And after seeing the inside of it, she was positive it was indeed Morinth’s apartment. So where were they?! She did not see them leave, so they should still be there.

It takes her fifteen more minutes to find a secret escape door, cleverly hidden behind the wall of a shower tub inside the bathroom…

 

* * *

 

Morinth lets her biotics die as she drops the empty shell that used to be Shepard down on the bed. She pants as she comes down from the absolute ecstasy she experienced while melding with the human spectre. Morinth was positive that this was the best meld of her life. Just as Shepard asked her, she focused solely on her pleasure during the melding. She stretched their connection as slow as possible, touching and inevitably ruining every single aspect of her partner. Even after Shepard started begging for mercy, she kept her promise and continued to use her for her pleasure, all the while completely ignoring the agony the poor human was experiencing as her life essence was consumed.

She closes her eyes and moans with pleasure, trying to burn the memory of Shepard’s end into her memory forever.

Morinth wound not normally relish in the inevitable destruction of her partner but Shepard was different. The woman asked to be shown no mercy and so she received none from the asari. It was her choice and for the first part of their melding, Shepard actively did not resist what was happening, even though she was strong enough to stop Morinth’s attack.

But eventually even Shepard grew weak in her hands. When the agony grew too much for her and the begging inevitably started, Morinth mentally mocked her for her choices that led her to this fate. Even though she surrendered to her, Shepard still conspired with her mother against her and so Morinth felt it right to punish her for that.

Still, even after all that, the woman did not appear to regret her choice… it was both humbling and infuriating for Morinth and she was certain that nobody was going to come so far for her as Shepard did.

She moves to close the eyes of the agonized wreck that used to be Shepard’s body. She retracts her hand with shock when she feels the human’s breath on her skin. She is still alive!”

A few shocked seconds later and one look into her empty blue eyes and Morinth realizes that it is only Shepard’s body that is alive. Her mind is… gone. She took it apart during their melding. Morinth sighs with pleasure as she feels Shepard’s last thoughts and selection of her memories swirling through her head.

She tests her theory when she tries to initiate another meld with the human only to feel nothing to connect to. It would have been nice if she could meld with Shepard again but she nevertheless smiles with satisfaction. Shepard wanted to experience what it was like to exist as an empty shell and it seemed that she got her wish…

Morinth wonders how to dispose of Shepard’s mindless but still living body. She briefly considers suffocating the empty husk and then throwing her on the streets for the vorcha to eat. She did not care one bit for her victim’s remains and always discarded them as soon as the melding was over. Like poor Nef who was thrown on the street like trash. But her previous victims were all dead at this point. Shepard was still breathing and so perhaps she deserved special attention.

With a surge of biotically enhanced strength, she picks her body off the bed and rolls it to the floor before standing over it. She lifts her right foot, putting it on Shepard’s face.

“You said you wanted to be crushed beneath my feet…” Morinth says mockingly. “Would you like me to grant you your last wish?”

Shepard does not answer, of course, and Morinth lifts her leg as she prepares to stomp down and snuff the remaining life out of the defeated human. But before crushing Shepard’s skull with her feet, at the last moment she spots the human’s omni-tool lying on the table next to the door. Earlier, she confiscated it from her when Shepard admitted who she was. Then they went to her apartment only to secretly leave it and come to one of Morinth’s safehouses – one which her mother had no chance of finding and where they would not be disturbed.

“ _The bitch must be going out of her mind right now…_ ” Morinth thinks as an evil plan forms in her head on how to possibly screw with her hateful mother.

Instead of finishing Shepard off, she walks over to the table and reaches for the device with a wicked smile…

 

* * *

 

Samara was getting desperate as Shepard would not answer her calls.

After finding the secret escape door, she immediately headed down the stairs behind it but all it did was lead her back outside, onto the streets of Omega. She had no trail to follow and no idea where to go next from there.

After searching Morinth’s empty apartment one last time, looking for any clue for where they could have gone, she finally walked out of the place and headed back to the ship. She would have to report that Shepard was missing and organize a search party to…

Her thoughts were interrupted when her omni-tool rang and she saw it was a vid-call from Shepard.

Her mind was flooded with relief and she immediately answered the call… only to freeze in horror at seeing a different face on the holographic display.

“ _Hello, mother,_ ” Morinth’s image smiles.

“Morinth!” Samara gasps, wondering how her daughter could have gotten Shepard’s omni-tool. “Where is she?” she asks, dreading the answer.

“ _You mean your little helper?_ ” Morinth asks in mocking voice. “ _Let’s just say that she’s no longer available…_ ” she replies with satisfied smirk.

Anger fills the justicar and her normally controlled biotics flare. “You incorrigible child! What did you do to her?!”

Morinth laughs. “ _What do you think? She was really delicious… thank you for introducing us._ ”

Samara cries in anguish as her worst fear is confirmed. “No! Do you have any idea what you have done? How important she was?!”

“ _Yes… yes. First human specter, savior of the Citadel…_ ” Morinth recites Shepard’s accomplishments before smirking at Samara in triumph. “ _And thanks to your meddling, that’s all she’ll ever be… you practically handed her to me on a silver platter. And she was so very willing… you are loosing your touch, mother._ ”

“Do not call me that! I swear to goddess, I will hunt you down Morinth!” Samara cries in impotent rage. “One day… I will kill you!”

Morinth just shakes her head. “ _I don’t think so… thanks to Shepard’s generous sacrifice, my biotics are finally stronger than yours,_ ” she says and flares her biotics in demonstration, producing a massive corona of biotic energy around herself. “ _So I am warning you… stay away from me, or else…_ ”

Samara gulps down. She always dreaded the day when her daughter’s consumption of lives would make Morinth biotically superior, despite Samara’s centuries of training as a justicar. She had hoped to have captured her daughter a long time before that but it seemed that she failed and now Morinth would be truly impossible for her to handle!

“What did you do with her body, you monster?!” Samara asks her, fully aware how callously the ardat-yakshi tended to treat the remains of her previous victims.

“ _Ah, yes… the body. You can find it at these coordinates,_ ” Morinth says in almost bored voice. Samara’s omni-tool beeps, having received the information. “ _You better hurry, though…_ ” Morinth resumes her mocking tone. “… _before some Vorcha picks her up for dinner… goodbye, mother._ ”

With that final rejoinder, Morinth terminated the call. Samara curses as she starts to run at the coordinates provided by Morinth. Fortunately, it wasn’t that far. Still, by the time she reached the dirty alley, she already saw a pack of vorcha standing around and poking a body lying in the street – Shepard’s body.

She sends them scrambling with a display of her biotics. Then she sinks to her knees next to Shepard’s naked body lying on the ground. “What have I done?” she whispers and cries in hopelessness as she sees the agonized expression frozen on Shepard’s face. The same expression she has seen on Morinth’s countless victims in the past centuries. But something is still different about Shepard – her chest is rising and falling.

“SHEPARD!” Samara cries as she realizes the commander is still breathing. ‘How can that be? Perhaps it is not too late…’ Samara thinks as she picks Shepard up and carries her back to Normandy as fast as she can.


	2. Chapter 2

When Samara brought Shepard’s unconscious body back to the Normandy, there was a huge commotion. With doctor Chakwas killed by the Collectors, it was temporarily Miranda’s job to treat injuries, especially when it came to Shepard.

“Out, all of you!” she barked at the crew, ordering everybody but Samara out of the medbay even as she examined Shepard’s body under the imaging scanner. Frown and puzzlement gradually grew on her face as she read the results. “Impossible… there is no kind of neural activity outside of her autonomous nervous system… none at all!” she exclaimed and threw a look at Samara who was watching Shepard’s slacked face with sorrow.

“Tell me what happened!”

The normally serene and calm justicar was drowning in guilt. Only years of her training and meditation ensured she could calmly answer Miranda’s questions without flinching.

“Shepard was helping me catch a criminal that I was hunting. She was… attacked,” Samara explained.

“Attacked how?” Miranda growled impatiently.

“By melding… the prisoner I was hunting is an ardat-yakshi,” Samara said and was about to explain the term but it became clear that the human already knew. Miranda’s eyes widened with shock and she looked at the scanner’s reading, a sudden understanding dawning on her face. “Morinth… you were hunting _Morinth_ with _Shepard_?!”

This time, Samara could not hide her surprise. “You know about Morinth?”

Miranda rolled her eyes. “Know what? That you have a rogue ardat-yakshi daughter that you’ve been hunting half your lifetime?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm that masked the anger and fear she felt inside. “It’s not exactly a state secret… now tell me what happened, every detail!” Miranda ordered and Samara did, recounting the entire fiasco from her initial conversation with Shepard, to Morinth calling her from Shepard’s omni-tool, all the way to finding her body comatose in the streets of Omega.

At the end, Miranda slumped down into the chair next to Shepard’s bed. She put her hands on her face, massaging her temples as she digested the story. Samara was about to ask her if she was alright when Miranda looked up at her and waved her hand in the air in frustration. “You stupid… _stupid_ … asari bitch…” she cursed the justicar who looked at her with both alarm and sympathy.

“I asked Shepard where the two of you were going, you know…” Miranda then said, not letting Samara respond to her insults. “She told me that it was a personal favor to you and that I should not worry… I trusted her,” Miranda recalled her last conversation with the brain-dead woman lying on a bed next to her.

“You should have told me…” she suddenly pointed her finger at Samara. “YOU SHOULD HAVE BLOODY HELL TOLD ME!”

“I believed that Shepard could handle her… I though…” Samara stuttered.

Miranda looked at her like there were tentacles growing out of her head… which there actually were. “Shepard? She is the last person who should be in hundred miles of any ardat-yakshi!!! Handle Morinth?!” she asked and then burst out with a bitter laugh. “Sure, I bet she loved _handling_ Morinth for you… which is the entire reason she is in this state…” Miranda said and looked at Shepard, the spectre’s empty eyes staring into nothingness as she lay on the bed.

She grabbed Shepard’s chin and turned her head as if to invite her into their conversation. “What was it, you fool?!” she told the unresponsive woman in anger. “I bet you were planning to _handle_ Morinth the moment this idiot told you about her, am I right?” she shook Shepard to rouse an answer for her but of course, the woman stayed silent.

Samara became lost to what was happening. “Goddess… what are you talking about, Miranda?”

The former Cerberus operative looked at Samara in disbelief. “You don’t know… you really don’t know…” she kept repeating.

“Know what?!” Samara asked, anger seeping into her voice. “Tell me!”

Miranda stood up from her chair. “I rebuild her from dead… so I know Shepard’s psychological profile inside out,” she explained. “Tell me Samara… do you know what Shepard’s greatest fantasy is?”

Samara did not know.

“Dying during sex,” Miranda told her, satisfied at the puzzlement and horror growing on Samara’s face at hearing the words.

“Dying… during sex?” Samara repeated feeling like she was caught in a bad dream.

“It’s a little more complicated, but that’s the gist of it,” Miranda confirmed.

The asari justicar shook her head in denial. “But why would anyone…” Samara was about to deny that such scenario could be anyone’s fantasy but then she remembered a lesson she learned in her centuries as a justicar – if there is a word for it, someone in the galaxy is sexually attracted to it.”

“But I told her… oh, goddess…” Samara sighed sadly as she remembered what she told Shepard about Morinth earlier. Knowing about Shepard’s fantasy, it must have been like an advertisement for her. “Oh, goddess…” she repeated.

“You realize it now, do you?” Miranda looked at her with contempt. “The way you described her made your daughter sound virtually irresistible to Shepard… hell, she probably asked Morinth to meld with her the first chance she got.”

Samara gasped as she remembered a detail of her emotional conversation with Morinth that she ignored at the time. “She said… Morinth said…”

“What did she say?” Miranda asked and Samara quoted it to her. “ _And she was so very willing…”_

Miranda frowned and looked at Shepard. “I don’t think Morinth lied… damn it, Shepard!”

There was silent for a while until Samara asked. “So what happens to her now?”

Miranda looked between Shepard and Samara. “As I understand it, you have been looking at what is left of your daughter’s lovers for centuries… I would think that you are already familiar with the routine by now,” she replied sarcastically.

“But the others died on the spot… Shepard is still alive!” Samara objected.

Miranda pointed angrily at Shepard. “You asari call this being alive?! Where I come from, we call it being a vegetable… it is only her cybernetic implants that are keeping her body alive, not her mind. No. Her mind is utterly gone, nothing but meal for your ardat-yakshi daughter to feast upon!”

“But you already rebuild her body and mind once… please! You can do it again!” Samara insisted, grasping at any idea that allowed her to sooth her guilt about this giant clusterfuck.

Miranda shook her hand. “This is different…” she said and went over to the medical scanner to look at the results. “Morinth’s melding completely scrambled her higher brain functions…” she noted, checking and double checking the scans. “Even if I managed to repair that, the neurons in her brain were fundamentally changed in random manner… in essence her brain cells are unable to communicate with each other... ever again.”

Miranda smiled bitterly as she read the analysis. “It is actually quite fascinating…” the scientist in her noted. “The asari legends say that ardat-yakshi steal your soul during the melding,” Miranda casually mentioned as she looked at images of Shepard’s brain. “Of course, I don’t believe that Morinth stole Shepard soul, but… she might as well have.”

“What are you saying?” Samara asked.

“I am saying that there is absolutely no way in the universe that Shepard is coming back from this,” Miranda finally gave her the headline. “What Morinth did to her… I mean what Shepard _willingly allowed_ Morinth to do to her?” Miranda correct herself. “It is totally irreversible. She is gone.”

This time there was a silence that lasted several minutes as both women grieved for the commander in their own ways.

“But what do we do… with reapers coming… she was so important…” Samara stuttered as she thought about the ramifications of Shepard’s death.

Miranda snorted. “Yes. Very important indeed,” she said and looked at Samara with murderous expression. “I am glad you realize it… if only you thought of it before feeding her off to your daughter it would have been even better!”

“I didn’t feed her to Morinth!” Samara cried in frustration. “I didn’t know this would happen! How could I know that she would just surrender and let Morinth do this to her?!”

“You’re right… it is as much Shepard’s fault,” Miranda said, looking at commander’s mindless body. “Still, no matter whose fault it is, it does not change the fact that we are completely fucked.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” she asked.

Miranda blinked tiredly. “There is… but I just never imagined it would come to this. Not in my darkest thoughts,” she said and Samara looked up. “What is it?” she asked hopefully but Miranda’s next words stole that hope way.

“No!” she resolutely declared, looking at Samara with steal. “You are done here, justicar. I want you gone from this ship within the hour!”

Samara wanted to react but Miranda stopped her. “I don’t care what you have to say… is there a line of justicar code which says what you should do when a woman you were sworn to protect has her soul eaten by ardat-yakshi?” she asked absentmindedly. “Never mind… Shepard is dead. I am in command of Normandy now. And I want you gone. Now.”

Samara looked like she had more to say but then she simply nodded. “Very well, I will depart. I will try and locate Morinth. I will avenge the commander. I swear it.”

Miranda glanced away from her and to Shepard. “You were not able to locate her before… and now that she gorged herself on Shepard, I doubt that you ever will,” she said thoughtfully.

She looked back at her while pointing to Shepard. “If you want to make amends, then this is what I need you to do: When you exit this room, people will ask you how Shepard is,” Miranda told her and Samara listened attentively.

“I want you to tell them that she will be unconscious several days but that she will make a full recovery,” Miranda then explained.

Samara did not expect that. “A lie…”

“Yes.”

The code discouraged her from lying unless absolutely necessary, but Samara wanted to fix this as much as she could. “Very well, Miranda. But what are you planning after several days when she _doesn’t_ wake up?” she wondered.

Miranda shook her head. “I am not going to tell you… I think it is better if you don’t know, anyway,” she said and turned away from the justicar for the last time. “This conversation never happened… goodbye Samara. I hope I never see you again.”

The asari simply nodded and left the room, her head lowered with shame. An hour later, she left Normandy forever.

 

* * *

 

It took Miranda almost an entire day. An entire stressful day to find a way to contact the person she needed if her plan was going to work. She did not tell Samara about her plan only partly out of spite. The bigger issue was that to make it work, as few as people as possible had to know about it.

But in all honesty, the main reason was that she was ashamed.

Miranda always prided herself on being cold, professional woman who never let emotions interfere with her work. For the most part, it described her well… except when it came to the woman who she was dialing on her console right now. For most of her career, that woman could be described as her rival. Recently, she became also a traitor and an enemy… until now. Now she turned into Miranda’s only hope. The screen went up and Miranda saw the face of the one person she never hoped to see again except maybe down the sights of pistol.

“Rasa… you are difficult to find,” she spoke in calm voice, quickly assembling a mask to hide how truly distressed and tired she was.

“ _You would not find me at all unless I wanted to be found, Miranda… make no mistake,_ ” the dark skinned ex-cerberus operative replied with her trademark arrogant sneer before adding almost casually. “ _Oh, and I don’t go by Rasa anymore… I am Maya Brooks now._ ”

“How charming,” Miranda merely remarked. The perverse pleasure this operative took in assuming her various false identities was one of the things Miranda disliked about Rasa… or Maya… whatever. There was a value in covert work and cover-ups but for Maya it was a sign of pathological need to mask her true personality… assuming she had any. Or so Miranda believed. “Do you even have a real name?” she could not help herself but make the jab.

“ _You mean you don’t even know my real name_?” Maya said in mock surprise.

“No,” Miranda admitted. “Illusive Man never managed to learn it and I never cared one way or the other.

Maya smiled and sighed with satisfaction. “ _Good…_ ”

And there it was, Miranda thought – miss Brooks always took unhealthy pleasure in these games.

“ _Well Miranda, I guess you haven’t tracked me down just to reminisce of old times and to trade insults,_ ” Maya Brooks went to the point. “ _So why don’t we skip to the only reason there can be for you to calling me, shall we?_ ”

“There was a-“ Miranda began but Maya interrupted her. “ _Yes… a terrible accident. Your toy bird got one of her wings broken so now you want **me** to send you the spares, is that it?_” Maya said in sweet voice that, however, did not hide her disgust. “ _Well, you can forget it… she is **mine** and I am not giving her up._”

Miranda cursed internally. ‘She thinks that Shepard was injured and that I need the clone as an organ donor…’ she thought. ‘Oh, if only that was true…’

“You don’t understand,” she shook her head sadly. “Shepard wasn’t injured, she… she died.”

“ _Died_?” Maya said in brief surprise which Miranda suspected was her first genuine emotion in their entire conversation. “ _Well, however did she die? I know you already went through Omega-4 relay and came back. Was it the collectors, maybe? Your pet wasn’t up to the task, hm?”_ she asked while at the same time mocking Miranda for her failure.

Miranda gritted her teeth. “No, actually, it was…” she said and thought how to express it best before she was struck with a sudden revelation. “…you. It was **you** ,” she finished with accusatory tone.

There was another very brief surprise on Maya’s face before she schooled her features into a mock hurt. “ _Me?_ ” she asked theatrically. “ _Really Miranda, while I definitely won’t shed any tears over your broken toy, you’ve got the wrong person here…_ ”

“You don’t understand,” Miranda interrupted her. “It was you… indirectly. You were the one who prepared dossiers for Shepard’s team… you were the one who recommended the bloody asari justicar,” Miranda growled.

Brooks raised an eyebrow at her. “ _The justicars are elite-warriors dedicated to the greater good of galaxy… how could one possibly cause Shepard’s death? Are you starting to hallucinate in your old age, Miranda?_ ”

Miranda was only a couple years older than her, so she ignored the childish insult. She was about to explain when she froze. There was a hidden undertone to Maya’s words that got her suspicious. ‘Could it possibly be?’ Miranda wondered. ‘Surely not! She is not that good!’ part of her insisted. ‘But it was her that made the dossiers… it was her who recommended an asari for Shepard’s team despite her widely known dislike of the species…’

Miranda looked at the generated image and Maya’s eyes caught hers. There was a hidden glee there, as if she knew exactly what thoughts were going through Miranda’s mind right now.

“You planned this, didn’t you?” Miranda finally vocalized her thought. If only she could be certain…

“ _I hope you are not accusing me of orchestrating some grand conspiracy to get rid of a galactic hero, Miranda… it’s unbecoming of you,_ ” Maya replied innocently.

And now Miranda knew for certain.

“Bitch,” Miranda simply cursed as she stared at Maya with mixture of loathing and grudging respect.

“ _Tsk-tsk, Miranda… language,_ ” Maya wiggled her finger at her from the display before turning serious. “ _So who made Shepard bite the dust? Was it Samara herself... or perhaps her daughter?_ ”

Miranda could not believe this. “You freely admit it… I will kill you for this, Rasa.”

“ _I told you, it’s Maya… and you won’t,_ ” Brooks practically laughed into her face. “ _You need me. You have no option remaining but me… otherwise, you would never be talking to me. I know you too well, Miranda._ ”

Miranda bit her lip. What Maya was saying was sadly the truth. It was time to swallow her pride. “You are right… I need you. I screwed up and I need you. Is that what you wanted to hear?!”

Maya smirked. “ _You saying those words will be my new ringtone, miss genetically perfect human,_ ” she mocked Miranda. “ _So tell me finally… how did Shepard die?_ ”

“She melded with Morinth.”

Upon hearing that, Brooks started to hysterically laugh on the other side of the line, making Miranda wish that she could just reach across the galaxy and strangle the smirking bitch.

“ _I can’t believe it actually worked…_ ” Maya said after she calmed down a little.

“You really planned this?!” Miranda asked. She was still unwilling to believe that Rasa could have orchestrated this all, despite her own admittance of the deed.

“ _I knew that putting Samara on the team was posing threat to Shepard’s life, yes,_ ” Maya admitted. “ _Either the justicar would kill Shepard herself over some obscure part of her code… or they would become friends which would mean there was a high chance she would introduce Shepard to her daughter… and given Shepard’s disgusting fetishes, such encounter had only one possible end,_ ” she explained to the stunned Miranda.

“Very clever,” Miranda genuinely admitted. She was cursing herself for not seeing this sooner but there was no denying that her rival totally pulled one over her.

“ _You know I am surprised that you did not alter the dossiers after my departure…_ ” Maya wondered. “ _Didn’t you suspect that I would do something like this?_ ”

Miranda swallowed. “Illusive Man believed that you leaving with the clone was an impulsive decision… he did not think you betrayed us that far out.”

“ _Oh, I tricked mister Illusive… one for history books I believe… and I tricked you,_ ” Maya smirked proudly. “ _Wasn’t the only one, you know._ ”

“What do you mean?”

“ _Come on, Miranda… didn’t you notice how recruitment of each of Shepard’s crewmember turned into a fight for survival? Or that each of them came with potentially deadly baggage?_ ”

Miranda just gaped at her in disbelief. “You have been sabotaging my mission… _Shepard’s mission_ … from the beginning!”

There was a triumph on Maya’s face. “ _And you never saw it coming… very sloppy of you. But then underestimating me has always been your greatest folly._ ”

Miranda did not reply to that. She was regretting ever making this call. But for the good of the galaxy, she had to… she needed Maya’s cooperation.

“ _So… your pet toy is busted,_ ” Brooks summed up the situation in cruel way. “ _… and you want my Shepard to take her place._ ”

Miranda blinked, trying to calm herself. “Yes. Even you know how important Shepard is in the coming war… there has to be a Shepard to lead the fight.”

“ _Without anyone knowing there was a switch?_ ”

“Yes.”

“ _How do you propose we do that?_ ”

“I’ve got it covered,” Miranda sighed. “Shepard is in the medlab. I told everyone that she was injured and will be out of it for a few days but that she will recover… so you bring the clone in and no one will be the wiser.”

Maya was nodding in approval until she heard about Shepard’s condition. “ _Wait a minute… out of it? I thought you said that Shepard died?_ ”

“Her body is alive, courtesy of her implants. But her mind is irretrievably gone.”

The dark-skinned woman stared at her for a moment, digesting that information. And then she smirked with glee. “ _Of course, melding with ardat-yakshi tends to have that effect._ _How awful for her… and you. Tell me the full story. Now._ ”

She needed Maya to agree and so Miranda began to recount the full story of what happened. She started with Samara and how she asked Shepard to help her hunt her daughter.

“ _Is she nuts? I thought justicars were supposed to have centuries of wisdom._ ”

Miranda shook her head. “She didn’t know about Shepard’s… inclinations.”

“ _So what happened next?_ ”

“Based what we know… and part of it came from a video call by the ardat-yakshi herself, so it’s not reliable… Shepard abandoned the plan she agreed on with Samara and instead let Morinth meld with her.”

There was another round of laughter from Rasa and this time, Miranda’s lip quivered as she suppressed her rage.

“ _That’s even better than I anticipated… when I prepared Samara’s dossier, I expected that Morinth would take her mother’s place on Normandy… they look almost identical, you know,_ ” Maya explained. “ _Once on Normandy, it would be only a matter of time until Morinth seduced her and melted her brain,_ ” she recounted her original plan.

“ _But to think that she willingly surrendered to that mutant blue bitch herself…_ ” Maya said and chuckled, looking into Miranda’s eyes. “ _This must be such a humbling experience for you, Lawson. Your prized project… your lifetime achievement… a woman you brought from the dead… feeding herself to an ardat-yakshi._ ”

“Enough Rasa! Do you agree or not?!” Miranda finally snapped.

Maya’s eyes narrowed. “Call me Rasa one more time and I will close this channel…” she warned Miranda with dark voice and then she immediately smiled. “ _This never would have happened with mine Shepard, you know…_ ”

“You think?” Miranda asked, sounding doubtful and angry.

“ _I know so… her more unnatural fetishes… and attraction to disgusting freakish things like the asari… I quickly beat those out of her,_ ” Maya explained.

This worried Miranda. “If she hates aliens, she can hardly pose as Shepard…”

“ _She doesn’t hate aliens… she just views them as disposable tools instead of friends… as it should be,_ ” Maya clarified.

“But if she suddenly called to-“

“ _Any change in Shepard’s attitude will be easily explained by her injury and the resulting coma… besides my girl is good actor, she can fake it…_ ” Maya declared proudly.

“I hope so Maya… so do you agree to the plan?”

Maya stared at Miranda for a moment, savoring her victory, before nodded. “ _I do. We can be on Omega in two days… we’ll make the switch then. Make preparations._ ”

“Right.”

“ _I hope you realize that this will be the end of you on the Normandy, Miranda… that ship will be **mine** afterwards… you better prepare a story explaining that as well…_”

Miranda knew it was coming but it still hurt her pride more than she was willing to admit, even to herself.

“ _Also… if anything happens to me, the clone will never cooperate… just so you know in case you get any clever ideas._ ”

Miranda simply nodded. She fully expected that. “What do you think we should do with the real Shepard’s body?” she asked the final question that was bothering her.

Maya looked thoughtful for a moment. “ _Well, you said that except her brain, it is in pristine condition… so I think that I will keep it in stasis as spare parts for my Shepard… very ironic, don’t you think?_ ” she asked with glee. “ _Their roles are reversed now._ ”

“You’re enjoying this…” Miranda accused her.

Brooks laughed evilly. “ _You’re damn right I am. Do you know how much time your pet spared me by getting her soul sucked out by Morinth?_ _I was planning to get rid of her eventually and make the switch…_ ” Maya mused. “ _I was planning to hire mercenaries but it probably would have been better to just send an ardat-yakshi assassin after her… I imagine Shepard would have just knelt before the woman and ask to be killed…_ ”

“I’ll be expecting you in two days,” Miranda said, trying to terminate the conversation which was seriously threatening her sanity now.

“ _One last thing, Miranda…_ ” Maya said, turning serious. “ _After the switch is done, I want you gone._ ”

“I will leave the Normandy… don’t worry-“

“ _That’s not what I mean!_ ” Brooks interrupted. “ _I want you out of my way and out of my life, Miranda…after I take Normandy, I never want to see you or hear about you ever again._ ”

“What?! Where the hell am I supposed to go to do that?”

Maya just shrugged. “ _Don’t know, don’t care… just crawl into some hole for the next two centuries and quietly contemplate your failures… or go feed yourself to that ardat-yakshi which killed Shepard,_ ” Maya chuckled darkly and then leaned closer to her monitor to whisper threateningly. “ _If you don’t disappear, Miranda, I will have my Shepard hunt you down and tear you apart… and remember… you don’t have yours to defend you anymore._ ”

Then she relaxed and smiled victoriously. “ _Two days Miranda, you better be ready…_ ”

The connection went down and Miranda slammed into her chair in utter despair. For the good of the galaxy… her life was essentially over. But she knew she had to do it. The galaxy needed Shepard more than it needed her. She had to disappear. Who knows. Maybe she will do as Rasa suggested. Go find Morinth and see for herself what was the experience that made her Shepard give up her life… who knows.


End file.
